Christmas is fast approaching, and I just moved into a 360-square-foot apartment. “Stuff” is something I don’t need. Even my friend’s 15-year-old daughter is dreading Christmas. She doesn’t like to get gratuitous stuff. For one, she doesn’t know how to react to a well-intended gift that is something she doesn’t need or want. And what…
The image of your organization, while not always identical to the truth about your organization, is as important. When something negative happens in your small business or organization, you want to be able to put a rosy face on it before the press finds out and paints their own picture of the situation. You don’t…
If you are a creative, you have been asked to work for free. People generally think creatives do a few minutes of work a day and then spend the rest of their leisurely work hours drinking coffee or napping. Apparently what we do is seen as ridiculously easy and quick. As with any career, you…
My father was a farmer. He awoke at 3:00 a.m., went down to the barn and did an enormous amount of physical chores before the sun came up. After school, I would help with the second milking of the day. It did not matter if it was 80 degrees out or 20 below. The chores…
As someone who has moved at least 9 times in the last 11 years, I am somewhat of an authority on it. Each move was prompted by a very specific reason… mostly positive ones. As I look back on the places I’ve lived, I try to imagine which places made me the happiest. I loved…
When I was in grade school in my tiny two-room schoolhouse in rural Vermont, our school got a computer. One computer. And apparently I used said computer and became interested in computers because I asked my parents to buy me one of the first “personal” computers that was ever available to the public: Radio Shack’s…
Today was the most amazing day! I drove into downtown Rutland and what did my eyes behold but some guerrilla artwork. To be precise, the dog statue in Depot Park had been adorably yarn bombed. The scoundrels also yarn bombed a nearby bench in beautiful colors. A close inspection of the work indicated a great amount…
One of my favorite parts about Rutland is having access to fresh organic food. While many would think that fresh produce is hard to come by this time of year, I would direct you to the Rutland Area Food Co-op located at 77 Wales Street. They are open 7 days a week for your shopping…
I ventured out yesterday to see if I could find any after-Christmas bargains on winter jackets at EMS in the Diamond Run Mall. The parking lot was fuller than I expected it to be. I guess others had the same idea or were just bored after all the Christmas festivities had died down. I decided…
This year, I set a goal to buy most of my Christmas presents locally and as many as possible made in Vermont. I also tried to buy consumable products that would not be more “crap” people had to incorporate into their homes. I bought all the adults on my list (mostly couples) local food products.…
Yesterday, I spent 6 hours at the College of St. Joseph in Rutland, Vermont volunteering for the Gift of Life Marathon. I performed one of my favorite volunteer tasks: registration. When you register people for an event, you get to greet them and see how excited they are to participate. Wearing a Santa hat and…
It is often difficult to live with dignity in a small town. And it is even harder to get people to understand that you are searching for dignity without coming right out and telling them (which erases all the dignity you seek). A lack of diverse jobs leaves people feeling as though they are sentenced…
I’m so thankful to Vermont Environmental Consortium for holding their fall tradeshow in downtown Rutland! What an awesome decision. The show was held in the Opera House space formerly occupied by GMP’s Energy Innovation Center. Vendor spaces for the tradeshow sold out, and a great crowd of people showed up for the event. I was…
The holiday season is upon us. With Thanksgiving still several weeks away, we will now be constantly bombarded with advertising aimed at separating us from our money. My advice is to ignore all the flash and promises of Walmart, Amazon.com and the big box stores. Instead, set your sights on unique gifts from local shops…
Today I went to the second weekend of the winter farmers’ market in Rutland. It was fabulous! I bought some huge kale from Radical Roots Farm, some green tomatoes from another local farm, applesauce from Yoder Farm that probably contained apples from about 100 yards from my house, and rice – YES RICE – that…
